Monster Lord: The Goblin Offers the Saintess to Me at the Start

Members of the Knight Order were reporting wildly, claiming that Vikalina had oppressed her colleagues during this expedition and made all sorts of unreasonable demands.

The most serious accusation was that, as a "Holy Flame Spear" heir who was supposed to give all her loyalty to the Church, she had met a minor nobleman named Sivis during a patrol mission, and she was extremely protective of him. She even fought with her colleagues over him, completely violating the knight's code of conduct. She should be punished severely.

They not only accused Vikalina of all these problems, but they also exaggerated and reported to the higher-ups, saying that she had failed to rescue civilians in order to protect Sivis, and had ignored the requests for help from the Knight Order. She had been acting suspiciously with Sivis throughout the mission, even disappearing together for a long time. There must be something wrong going on!

These were all very serious accusations.

Vikalina was not strictly forbidden from having a relationship, but as a heir who had received a lot of resources from the Church, her personal life should be decided according to the Church's arrangements. How could she possibly be allowed to secretly fall in love with a "minor nobleman" as described by the Knight Order members?

She is destined to give birth to offspring with extraordinary potential.

The Church may not necessarily force a female knight to choose a fixed partner, but it would still let her pick a young man from a group of equally outstanding candidates.

This way, it would gain excellent offspring, who would become new fighting forces for the Church.

To be in love with an obscure minor nobleman?

It would be best if Vikalina could realize in time how plain and incapable the man was, and break things off on her own. Otherwise, she would definitely be separated from him!

Besides, "failing to save her colleagues and standing by while civilians suffered"—for other members of the Church, this might not be a big deal. But for the heir of the "Holy Flame Spear" knight, it was a very serious offense.

A knight with a title was required to have an extremely noble and pure heart!

Now, the female elf Sophia was in a state of panic.

She certainly knew that the members of the Knight Order were never on good terms with Vikalina, and what they said might not all be true.

But in the face of everyone's wild accusations, it was undeniable that Vikalina had some evidence of wrongdoing in someone else's hands.

Causing such a big mess, Sophia realized that Vikalina might even lose her right to inherit the "Holy Flame Spear"—even with her protection, she would still face severe punishment.

Sophia had already sent her familiar spirits to inform Vikalina, demanding that she come back immediately to explain what was really going on.

At the same time, she went in person to meet with several powerful bishops in the Holy City.

Seeing the normally proud and aloof Sophia now showing a look of desperation, the bishops found it both amusing and satisfying.

They enjoyed watching Sophia's anxious expression and deliberately replied, "Sophia, after all these years working together, you still don't know us?"

"We have already taken good care of your student."

"She caused a lot of trouble when she was training in the Holy City, and we turned a blind eye to it, didn't we?"

"This time, she was on a mission outside the Church, not within the Church's internal affairs—her every move affects the Church's image abroad. Ordinary offenses would be fine."

"But look at the report: she betrayed her colleagues for a minor nobleman—doesn't that go too far?"

"We also have our hands tied. Those Knight Order members all have considerable backgrounds. We can't just make enemies with them all for your student, could we?"

They pressed on, and Sophia, unable to do anything, could only grit her teeth and speak.

"Enough, no need to say more— I know what you want," the female elf said. "This year, I can give up all the share of 'Holy Dew' I have. And the special sword techniques you've been wanting, I can also hand over."

"The condition is: don't continue to accuse Vikalina of crimes. She can accept punishment, but she must keep the status of 'Holy Flame Spear' heir. The punishment must not harm her potential, nor should it interfere with her progress in strength."

"I can guarantee that the accusations from the Knight Order members are not entirely true!"

"Vikalina's personality would never let her betray her comrades or be indifferent to civilians!"

"If that were the case, I would personally make her give up the inheritance of the 'Holy Flame Spear'."

Upon hearing this, the bishops were taken aback, then sneered.

"Sophia, do you think we are your former admirers? You can't just get the 'Holy Flame Spear' inheritance by offering a little resource like that?"

They knew Vikalina's character, and they also thought the Knight Order members' accusations were probably exaggerated. But that didn't stop the bishops from using this as an opportunity.

"That was never something Vikalina should have had," the female elf was about to argue.

But she was cut off by the cold, menacing glances of the bishops. One of them, the leader, folded his hands with his fingers interlaced, speaking in an unshakable tone: "Not enough. What you're offering is far too little."

"What else do you want?!" Sophia gritted her teeth, her anger causing her perfect figure to shake violently.

The bishops, however, were unmoved, their eyes filled with greed. "We want—"

...

In this room, strange, subtle sounds were being secretly transmitted into the female elf's ears.

"You're crazy!" Sophia's pupils shrank.

"No, we just know you can afford this price."

Faced with the bishops' relentless pressure, Sophia finally closed her eyes bitterly, reluctantly nodding: "… I understand. But you must promise to keep this quiet."

"Relax, Miss Sophia is a hero of the Church for nearly a thousand years. How could we possibly ignore your request?" The bishops smiled as they took the offering, satisfied.

Sophia turned away, her face cold, her back filled with suppressed anger.

Once she was far away, the bishops finally dropped their smiles and spoke.

"Sophia has one more thing to deal with."

"Whatever your student is thinking."

"This time, all of her actions must have a reasonable explanation."

"Also, she must clearly separate herself from that minor nobleman named Sivis. Do you understand?"

They were truly giving her a "kind" reminder.

In the Knight Order's report, Vikalina had already become a criminal.

She had to clear each and every one of her so-called crimes in order to keep her status as the heir of the Spear of Holy Flame.

Sophia waved her hand impatiently.

She found the bishops' words extremely ridiculous.

Vikalina could not possibly have committed those crimes. The Knight Order members must have been spreading lies. If she could arrive in the Holy City in time, and have her student publicly defend herself, she could turn the situation around.

But the Knight Order members had deep and complex networks of influence. If they joined forces to pressure her, then a so-called "fair trial" would be nothing more than empty talk. Vikalina would only be confirmed as guilty.

By contacting the bishops, Sophia at least had a chance to get a fair debate—so long as she could have an open confrontation, all the lies would collapse on their own.

As for "cutting ties with Sivis"—Sophia's trust in her own student was unshakable.

She knew Vikalina was not some naive girl lost in love. What burned in her heart was a grand ideal to change the Church, to change the world. A common minor nobleman could make her fall in love?

This was the most ridiculous joke in the Knight Order's report.

Sophia didn't even need to say much. Given Vikalina's kindness and reasonableness, she would naturally distance herself from Sivis — she should have already understood that the two of them simply didn't belong to the same world.

Repressing her anger, Sophia thought again: even if Vikalina didn't have any feelings for the minor nobleman, just wanting to be friends would only bring disaster to the man — and her student's personality might not even make her take the initiative to stay away from Sivis.

Because Vikalina didn't understand what it meant for a gap in status to be like a chasm.

Sophia suddenly felt a bit uneasy. She decided to use divine power to draw out a message and send it to the familiar spirits that had just left. Fortunately, the spirits hadn't flown too far, so she could still add the message.

The content Sophia sent was: "Make sure Vikalina firmly cuts ties with Sivis."

At this point, the female elf finally let out a sigh of relief — the trouble her student had caused had been handled. The relationship was clear, and the false accusations could turn around at any time. As for Sivis, he wasn't even worth mentioning.

How could Vikalina really get entangled with a minor nobleman? Especially after she had already warned her, wouldn't she listen?

Thinking about the bishops' serious-sounding reminders.

"Absurd," Sophia snorted, then turned away with a cold expression.

These people took advantage of her student's situation and demanded too much. The grudge she held against them wasn't something that could be smoothed over with a few kind words!

Vikalina didn't yet know that her teacher had already decided she would break off with Sivis. She was following her companions, her face full of happiness, and moving quickly toward the knights and priests who had successfully broken out before.

From the female knight's perspective, the next part of the journey didn't seem too difficult — just a few words of persuasion and the purchase of some supplies.

Sivis's potential and strength alone were enough to make that cleric sell the fossils — it would be a small favor in return.

As for whether the money was enough.

A resource not even reaching Gold-Rank, Vikalina thought, with the few rare items she had and a little help from Sivis, it should be enough to pay.

She was also starting to realize that with the disaster in Minnet City over, she had to return to the Church for a report and claim the reward for resisting the blood plague.

She had little time left to be with Sivis.

She had to cherish it.

After crossing a small part of the city and killing off a group of Blood Servants.

Sivis sensed that his "mental anchor" was getting stronger — it looked like the Knight Order members, after successfully escaping Minnet City, hadn't continued to flee but had instead found a place to rest.

The two of them weren't surprised by this. The silver cleric had already been infected by Sylar's blood plague, and without the ability to be immune to infection through pure holy light, he would certainly sit cross-legged and try his best to delay the plague's onset once he was safe.

Soon, after leaving the city by a few kilometers,

They saw the silver cleric and a group of knights and priests in the distance.

Although the cleric wasn't focusing on his training, he was still using all his strength to slow down the plague by channeling holy light. His perception had dropped significantly, and he didn't notice Sivis and Vikalina — who weren't even trying to hide themselves.